More help arrives to fight Swift Dam area fire

James Casaus, an incident commander in training, talks Tuesday about the Strawberry Fire burning near Swift Dam.

The Strawberry Fire on the ridge to Cap Mountain in the Bob Marshall wilderness on the Flathead National Forest this summer. The fire later burned into Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest prompting closures. All areas closures in the forest have now been lifted.(Photo: InciWeb)

More resources have arrived to fight a wildfire that’s at the shores of Swift Reservoir and pressing to leave Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest onto private lands west of Dupuyer.

Two firefighting modules, an eight-member crew from the Flaming Gorge area of Utah and a nine-member team from Columbine, Colo., arrived at the Strawberry Fire Wednesday, said Duane Buchi, a fire information officer.

The modules are self-contained firefighting units that usually do controlled or specialized burns, Buchi said.

Now they’re being pressed into wildfire suppression work.

A second 20-person hotshot crew, Twin Peaks out of Draper, Utah, arrived Tuesday.

It joins the Browning-based Chief Mountain Hotshots already on the fire.

Hotshots, which must meet stringent qualifications, work in some of the roughest and most remote terrains in the nation.

“We feel pretty fortunate to be able to acquire these resources,” Buchi said.

On Wednesday, four helicopters instead of three also will be available, and two super scoopers are available if needed.

Roads leading west out of Dupuyer, including Swift Dam Road, are closed because of the Strawberry Fire, which has reached Swift Dam.(Photo: Karl Puckett)

As of Wednesday morning, the Strawberry Fire was 11,325 acres.

Increased activity on the Strawberry Fire prompted the Pondera County Sherriff to initiate evacuations for four to five ranch owners in the vicinity of Swift Reservoir and the dam keeper's residence Monday.

A pre-evacuation notice has also been issued for residences farther east along Swift Dam Road toward Dupuyer. A pre-evacuation notice tells property owners to be ready to leave on short notice.

Those evacuations remained in effect Wednesday when a meeting is scheduled on the fire at 6 p.m. at the Heart Butte School-Multi-Purpose Room.

The fire line was held Tuesday as the fire tried to move out into the flats just south of Swift Dam.

The Chief Mountain Hotshots, numerous volunteer fire departments, the Department of Natural Resources, the Blackfeet Tribal Agency, Pondera and Teton County resources and local ranchers teamed together in stopping the fire’s progress, fire officials said.

The Strawberry Fire is one of three fires burning on the Rocky Mountain Front.

Three fires are burning on the Rocky Mountain Front:This is the Strawberry fire, which has reached the south shore of Swift Dam.(Photo: U.S. Forest Service)